Category Archives: Seafood

SPICY MUSSELS IN WHITE WINE

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I found this vintage mussel dish on ebay.

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It’s kinda ugly in an interesting sort of way.  I believe it was made in France in the 1950s by Vallauris.

Have you ever heard the saying “some days you’re the pigeon and other days you’re the statue?”  How about “some days you’re the dog and other days you’re the hydrant?”  Well, I’ve got another one for you — some days you’re the seagull and other days you’re the mussel.  Seagulls have a taste for mussels and other shellfish.  To get at the meat inside the shell, they carry the mussel high in the air, and then drop it on rocks below.  They do this over and over until the shell finally cracks open, and then they feast.  (A nice video of this, with some sea lions as an added bonus, can be seen here.)

After certain unpleasant and entirely fascinating recent events in American politics, I think we all might feel a little mussel-like, as if we’d been repeatedly dropped on sharp rocks until a seagull can come and pick our innards out.  This feeling, together with the mussel dish, is the inspiration for this recipe for Spicy Mussels in White Wine.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the Costco near me has a sort of pop-up seafood shop, and they almost always have 3-pound bags of beautiful Prince Edward Island (“PEI”) mussels   — rarely a broken shell in the whole bunch.  In researching mussels, I learned that the size of the mussel varies with the season — they are largest in October and smallest in March.  If a batch of mussels appears to be different colors, don’t worry — pale white meat indicates a male mussel, and a warmer, more orangey colour, a female.  (Yep, another step closer to being Cliff Clavin.)

This recipe is quick and easy, and is  a delicious light meal any time of year. Crusty bread is, of course, mandatory for sopping up the broth.  For times when you are perhaps feeling mussel-like, a soothing, steaming, savory bowl of mussels in white wine will help you feel like you are soaring with the seagulls in no time, at least momentarily.

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SPICY MUSSELS IN WHITE WINE
Author: 
Recipe type: Seafood, Main Courses
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ medium onion, chopped
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2¼"-thick slices of lemon
  • 2 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded (discard any broken shells or that won't close)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • ½ cup chopped seeded tomatoes
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, and salt, and saute until onion is golden, approximately 4-5 minutes. Add wine and lemon and bring to a boil over high heat. Add mussels and cook, covered, until mussels open, stirring once to rearrange mussels, approximately 6 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to individual serving bowls. Boil liquid remaining in pot until reduced to 1 cup, approximately 3 minutes. Season broth to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and tomatoes, and serve hot.
  2. (Note: Have lots of crusty bread on hand to sop up the broth.)

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NEW ORLEANS CRAB SOUP

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I found this brass turtle lemon grater at a local estate sale.

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Unfortunately, the grating holes are too dull to grate, after what I assume is years of use.  But it is still a wonderful decorative item.  It is especially interesting to me because it came from the estate of Suneeta Vaswani.  Suneeta moved to Houston from Mumbai 30 years ago, and has taught Indian cooking classes here for quite some time.  She has a  cookbook, The Complete Book of Indian Cooking:  350 Recipes from the Regions of India, which has lots of fans.

Speaking of turtles, do you remember those cute little fellas in the plastic dish with the palm tree?

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Once upon a time, these were popular pets for children.  Parents liked them because they were low maintenance, and if the turtle happened to die, chances are no one would notice for a while.  Unfortunately, my kids never got to experience the joy of owning a little turtle.  Seems that snuggling up to one of these cuddly cuties is like playing Russian roulette, because you never know if an encounter with one might result in a deadly salmonella infection.  According to the Center for Disease Control, the sale of turtles under 4 inches has been banned in the U.S. since 1975 because of the risk of salmonella.  (I expect to see these on Facebook soon — you know, “Click ‘like’ if you remember these,” just like rotary phones and the Brady Bunch.)

When I first moved to Houston, I was introduced to Turtle Soup at Brennan’s.  I thought it was a joke at first.  Really, Turtle Soup?  But it wasn’t a joke, and it was delicious.  According to one of the chefs at Brennan’s, Turtle Soup is “unquestionably the most popular dish” at the restaurant.  He says they make it in 35-gallon batches “in pots the size of small bathtubs.”  He also says that the restaurant only uses fresh water turtles, such as the snapping turtle.  That’s a relief —  I can’t imagine how many little turtles they’d have to use to make a batch of soup.

Inspired by the turtle grater, I set out to make Brennan’s Turtle Soup, except that I had no idea where to buy turtle meat, and even if I did, I wouldn’t.  The Brennan’s chef said you could substitute ground beef or a combination of ground beef and ground veal in chili grind, but I decided to use crab instead.  The recipe I adapted this from came from the New Orleans Turtle Soup recipe in the Breakfast at Brennan’s cookbook (it’s different than the Brennan’s Turtle Soup recipes I found on the internet).  It makes a really nice meal this time of year (it was 35 degrees here in Houston when I took my son to school this morning).  If you want to stretch it — because after all, crab is expensive — you can serve it over white rice.  Don’t forget the drizzle of sherry!

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NEW ORLEANS CRAB SOUP
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup diced onion
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • ½ cup diced green pepper
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ cup flour
  • ½ cup corn meal
  • 2 quarts chicken broth
  • 1 pound lump crab meat
  • Optional for serving:
  • Cooked white rice
  • Sliced lemons
  • Dry sherry
  • Tabasco sauce
  • Chopped green onions
Instructions
  1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, parsley, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, paprika, salt, and bay leaves. Cook the mixture until the vegetables are very tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and corn meal, and continue cooking until they have absorbed all of the butter. Slowly whisk the broth into the pot and bring to a boil. Add the crab meat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.
  2. To serve, place approximately ¼ cup white rice (if using) in individual soup bowls. Drizzle with a teaspoon of sherry (if using). Pass lemons, Tabasco sauce, and green onions at the table for use as desired.

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 Look Mom, no turtles!